DIFFERENTIAL REWARD SCHEME AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA
Tabitha Nyambura Norman - Master in Business Administration (Human Resource Management Option), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Phillip Wambua - Lecturer, School of Business, Human Resource Department, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Within the county government, there has been an element of discontent amongst various cadres of employees over differential compensation structures. These different groups of staff have different working terms and reward structures despite working for the same employer and sometimes in jobs requiring equivalent qualifications. The existing studies have not examined employee satisfaction within the county government system in a devolved government structure. The influence of the differential reward system on the employee satisfaction in county government structure has not been examined. The objectives of the study were the examination of the role of recognition, allowances, training and promotion on employee satisfaction in county government of Nakuru. The study was based on the Hertzberg’s Two Factor Theory, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, and the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Theory. Descriptive research design was used in this study. The target population of this study was5,100 staff working for the county government of Nakuru. A sample size of 371 respondents was utilized. This study used a questionnaire for the purposes of data collection. The pilot study was undertaken in Nakuru county using 10% of the respondents that is 37 respondents. The validity of the data collection instrument was examined during the pilot study using a set of experts in the area of reward management and employee satisfaction as well as the supervisors.The reliability of the data collection was examined through the use of the Cronbach alpha coefficient of a threshold of 0.7 and above.In respect to the recognition metrics, the study concluded that there are diverse practices used in recognition practices across the county government of Nakuru. The study concluded that there were no harmonized practices in relations to allowances issued at the County Government of Nakuru. The study concluded that there are very low satisfaction levels with the training opportunities within the County Government of Nakuru. The study concluded that the county government of Nakuru employees was not satisfied with the promotional aspects in the county government. The logistics regression analysis was carried out with a view of determining the influence of recognition, allowances, training and promotion on the employee satisfaction levels. The results indicated that the unit increases (individually) in recognition, allowances, training and promotion while keeping the other three independent variables constant would lead to a negative influence on the employee satisfaction levels. This is due to regression coefficient (B) values of -0.079, -0.132, -1.498, and -0.647 for recognition, allowances, training, and promotion respectively. These results suggest that the four independent variables don’t have the capacity to positively and individually influence employee satisfaction without the input of the other variables. Therefore the following model was used; Employee Satisfaction = 6.045-0.079 (Recognition)-0.132 (Allowances)-1.498(Training)- 0.647 (Promotion).
